Fighting Gravity
by Zade Kay
Summary: Post Series. Oysters are being imported to Wonderland once more, and someone's forcing them to fight to the death for the viewing pleasure of Wonderland's dark and seedy underbelly.


Three weeks had flew by since Alice's escapades in Wonderland, three weeks since she had woken in the hospital, unsure of whether she'd dreamt the whole thing, and three weeks since the world as she knew it had unravelled and reshaped itself into something entirely new. It had also been three weeks since one Hatter had followed her through the Looking Glass, traipsed into her oyster world and made himself a part of her new life like he'd been there all along. He was David here, Hatter in private, and he had taken to her world like the metaphorical duck to water. He never seemed to have a need for money, and he brought her little gifts daily, and while she never asked where and how he was providing for himself, and he never offered any details, she didn't doubt that Hatter had his ways. Better not to ask questions. Alice saw Hatter everyday, sometimes they spent the entire day together, from sunrise to sunset, and some days he disappeared for long bouts of time, only to reappear at her dojo, sitting and observing, watching her with a glimmer in his eye.

To her mother, he was David, and he was quirky, but unfailingly polite. Her mother seemed surprised that her independent, commitment-phobic daughter had not only moved on from Jack Chase, and had become so entangled with this new, slightly odd but nevertheless charming young man. The fact that they spent so much of their time together confounded Carol, and she often began to bring up the subject of David, only to trail off and shake her head, leaving Alice to puzzle over half sentences. She seemed equal parts happy and enthused for Alice, and worried and confused.

So, here they were, three weeks in, and Alice was half dozing on the sofa in her shared apartment with her mother, feet propped in Hatter's lap while he ran his fingers so softly over the exposed skin where her lounge pants had ridden up, causing delicious little shivers to creep up Alice's legs. Hatter was watching some sci fi program without blinking, fascinated by the show, which had something to do with dinosaurs running free in the present time, as far as Alice could surmise. He had his feet kicked up on the coffee table, and his hat was lying on the sofa arm, somehow jaunty even when it wasn't on his head, and his tamed hair had gotten a little wild from his new habit of running his hands through it with a frown, as if hair product was offensive. Alice, too, had a habit of undoing the carefully combed locks, pushing her fingers through his hair to dishevel it, searching for and missing the old Hatter's untamed appearance. Even his hats were tamer these days, usually fedoras or newboy caps, nothing like his fanciful hat from beyond the Looking Glass.

Alice blinked sleepily as she watched Hatter's profile, wondering internally if this was the night when Hatter finally pushed past the barrier he had craftily built between them. The unspoken line he had drawn where one moan was one too many, where one gasp, one wandering hand, one sharp intake of breath was beyond that line and he hastily beat a quick retreat, pulling away from her like she was high voltage and he'd been shocked. If she were a less confident woman, it would hurt, and she would take it as a rejection, but she saw the dark, pupil blown look in his eyes, the way he fisted his hands to keep them from going ever further, and the way he looked as frustrated as she felt, if only more determined than she to stick to some ridiculous boundary. So instead, she just sighed, stopped pushing for more, and waited on Hatter to make up his damned mind already. The frustration building inside her, however, was enough to make her want to scream and throw a tantrum, or just pin the man to the ground and have her wicked way with him. Alice bit her lip at the thought of Hatter undone beneath her, looking up at her with pitch dark eyes and groaning, and suddenly she was wide awake and Hatter's soft fingers decidedly needed to be working their magic in a different place.

Suddenly Hatter's program was over, and the credits were rolling, and he finally blinked, coming back to himself. He looked over at her, began to smile apologetically at his misdirected attention and must have caught something in her expression that gave him pause. Alice sat up slowly, pulling her legs from his lap, and Hatter, smart man that he was, quickly repositioned himself so they were facing each other, and she could feel his warm breath on her face.

"Naughty thoughts?" He queried, his voice low and husky. "My, my, my. That will never do."

Alice made a throaty noise of agreement and pounced on him, tangling her limbs with his, pulling herself into his lap and pressed her face into his throat, running her tongue along the tendon she found there and kissing and sucking her way up his neck, detouring to that spot behind his ear briefly, and then travelling up past his chin to suck on his lower lip. Hatter made a delicious noise of pleasure, almost purring, and then he was pressing his mouth to hers, using his tongue to push past her lips and tangle his with her own tongue. His hands came to rest in her hair, gently tangling themselves in her locks, and he used the leverage to softly tug her head back to deepen the kiss. Alice lost her breath, locked her thighs around Hatter's, and ran her fingers possessively over his chest. She felt his heart slamming under his ribcage, and felt his breath catch in his chest beneath her fingertips, and she happily stole the breath from his mouth, greedy for every part of this strange man.

Alice opened her eyes to study Hatter's face, and he surprised her when he was gazing right back at her, his face tight with restraint, his eyes dark and needy. The look he gave her only spurred her on, and she reached for the first button on his shirt only to have his fingers capture hers and halt her progress. _For the love of God. _She pulled back and glared at him, sick of this game, literally frothing with need and frustration, and Alice made to move from his lap, anger bubbling up in her belly like a particularly bad tempered toad she had swallowed. Hatter made a noise of warning and stopped her, moving his hands to lock down her thighs, and very gently he bumped his hips up, pressing them to her, and she became very aware of how _hard_ this was on Hatter.

"It's not that I don't want to, because I _want, _I _yearn _even, with a fiery burning that makes me want to do bad things, Alice. Very bad things indeed. If you catch my drift," Hatter told her through gritted teeth, his hips still locked to hers. "It's just, I have this thing, yeah? This thing where I do this with pretty girls and it's a one off, and I want you to stick around. I want to treat you like the lady you are, instead of just a gimme, love."

Alice bit her lip and very gently swivelled her hips, enjoying the way Hatter's eyes fluttered when she did and the delightful way he twitched beneath her. "Treat me like a lady later, Hatter. I want this. I want you."

The man beneath her inhaled sharply and his fingers travelled further up her thighs, and then moved inward, until his burning fingers were pressed to her inner thighs. "I don't know how a gent's supposed to behave himself and preserve a lady's maidenly sensibilities when she's straddling him and saying wicked things. You're perverting all my good intentions."

Eyes drifting closed at the feeling of Hatter's hands, so close, Alice did another slow circle with her hips and smiled tightly. "You know what they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions."

Hatter groaned and suddenly lifted himself up, pressing his face into her chest and nuzzling her chest with his nose. "I've forgotten what they were to begin with. Funny that. I see a pretty girl and all my thoughts come unravelled. Like a big ball of yarn the cat's been messing about with," he murmured into her breasts.

Alice was breathing heavily through her nose, and she made a soft gasp when Hatter lifted a hand to cup one of her breasts, and she knew then they were past the point of no return. This was finally it, she was finally going to see Hatter wild and unfettered, and there would be no last minute change of plans, no apologies and hurt feelings. Her hands flew back to his shirt buttons, and she was down to the third one, exposing a delicious expanse of toned chest, gasping and moaning as Hatter palmed at her breasts, teased her with his talented fingers, when the doorbell suddenly rang several times in quick succession followed by someone pounding on the apartment door. Hatter pulled back from her and untangled them so fast that Alice found herself dizzy, and she gave the door the dirtiest look she had up her sleeve. Alice hated the world right then as she gingerly got up, glancing at Hatter sadly as he righted the buttons on his shirt, and decided if her mother had returned early from her trip to visit her sister in Albany, she was just going to scream.

Smoothing her hair and adjusting her tank top, Alice made her way slowly to the door, breathing in deeply through her nose to control her temper. She was so ready for any possible outcome, that she wasn't even surprised to see Jack Heart at her doorway, looking pale but stoic, she only gave him a sour look and gestured violently for him to come in. The monarch looked a little surprised at her brusque greeting, but nonetheless stepped in. She heard Hatter grumble when Jack stepped into the apartment and she thought she made out the words "of course, it's the royal interrupter", but she ignored him.

"Jack, what are you doing here?" Alice asked, trying not to sound frosty, and she ran a hand through her hair to ensure it was in order.

"I'm afraid there's trouble in Wonderland, once again. I'm only sorry I had to come here, but we desperately need help," Jack explained apologetically, his eyes taking her in and lighting up with warmth at the sight of her, despite his disturbing news.

"Trouble, what kind of trouble? Can't keep your own subjects happy, Your Highness? Or is it domestic? Having troubles keeping the missus happy?" Hatter chirped from the couch, smiling crookedly and righting his hat on his head, looking cheerful and for all the world as if he had not just been interrupted in the middle of something very important.

"This has nothing to do with the Duchess, Hatter," Jack bit out, with a hint of warning apparent in his voice. "I need your help."

Alice pounced on this, trying to avoid another battle of words between Jack and Hatter that would no doubt ensue. "Our help? For what?"

Jack turned his blue eyes back on her and his face was apologetic. "Not your help, Alice. I'd prefer to keep you out of this, if possible. I need Hatter."

Feeling a bubble of surprise and rejection rise up in her gut, Alice went rigid and glared at the King. "Wherever Hatter goes, I go."

Hatter was up on his feet in an instant. "No, Alice. That's not the way it works, love. If Jack wants you out of Wonderland, then out you stay. I'm not putting you in the path of Jabberwocks and rogue suits and the like again."

Jack shot Hatter a grateful look. "I need your connections, Hatter. Something is terribly wrong in Wonderland."

"Well, out with it then," Hatter gestured for Jack to get on with it, looking impatient.

"Someone's importing Oysters again, and before you ask, it isn't through the Looking Glass."

"How then? And for what?" Alice bit out, still feeling a strong sense of rejection, doubled even with Hatter's haste to keep her out of things.

"We don't know. We've think they've found a way to create a rabbit hole. A hole through the worlds. And as for what, well that's something Hatter will have to see for himself, I think."

Hatter looked thoughtful, and for a long moment he stared at his right hand blankly. Then suddenly he was in action, moving past Jack and Alice to the coat rack to get his jacket, and before Alice could even protest, he leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll be back before you know it, yeah?"

And to Jack. "Let's go your Royal Pain in the Arse."

"Wait, wait. No, Hatter, Jack! I'm coming!" Alice protested vehemently.

"Stay put, Alice. I'll be back soon, and I'll come back in one piece, just for you. We'll finish off that road when I get back, that's a promise." With one last heated look, Hatter and Jack were out the door and Alice was left staring at it, unsure of what had just taken place.

_Stay put? _

Alice stood in the same place they had left her for a long moment, feeling something big rise inside of her like a tidal wave. She realized just before it crashed that it was anger. With a muffled scream of frustration, Alice dove for her own coat and nearly tore the heavy door off its hinges, slamming her arms into the sleeves of her jacket impatiently.

_Screw that. _


End file.
